Domain Books

I am 79 years old and am now purchasing all the Pepper books for my Great-Grandchildren. I read the Five Little Peppers and How they Grew as a youngster--wonderful, warm family stories. We need all the positive images in today's world---lets fill our reading time with positive material.

At the end of Five Little Peppers Midway, the girls, Mr. and Mrs. Fisher, Jasper, and Grandpa King are leaving for a voyage to Europe. This is the story of their journey, from shipboard acquaintances with a rude English boy and with a social-climbing classmate of Polly's and her mother, to sightseeing in England, France, Holland, and Italy. Although the Peppers are as effusive as ever, this is a wonderful portrait of what it was like to do "the Grand Tour" of Europe back in the last 1800s, unfortunately complete with stereotypes, but true to life with the danger of bad hotels and food and strenuous travel.

This is the first of many sequels to the original book about the five Pepper children. Now living at the Kings' home as cherished members of the family, the children, especially Polly, make the acquaintance of the unpleasant cousin Eunice Chatterton, who thinks the Kings are "slumming" by associating with the Peppers. She hopes at least to turn Polly into a willing servant to her, then decides to train little Phronsie instead. This is a very typical Victorian novel and your enjoyment will depend on how you tolerate the usual Victorian children's book excesses: the children exclaim with joy, have "rhapsodies," and cry at the drop of a hat. And although Phronise is now about eight years old in this story, she still talks as if she is the little baby of the original book. Still, it is fascinating to read about the way Victorian children lived and amused themselves, and even about differing attitudes to what are today simple accidents: in one part of the story, young Dick Whitney breaks his leg, and you might think from the reaction that the little boy is on the verge of death, until you realize that in those days a broken leg might cause blood poisoning or infection leading to death.

Five Little Peppers Midway is a continuation of the lives of The Pepper Family. This is a heartwarming and amusing story that spans from baking pies to burglars to Mamsie's Wedding! You will just have to get this book for yourself to step back in time to simple living and loving families. Once you start reading this book you won't want to put it down!

'From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan' offers an intrigueing travelogue through nineteenth century India revealing a culture whose uncanny developments in the metaphysics of mind in the material world are today shedding light upon far reaching intuitions. The way Blavatsky reveals India without the fogs of mysticism but through an insightful first-person narritive makes this an exellent introduction and captivating look into the exotic world of Hindustan. It's truly adventuresome and fascinating. For anyone looking into the anthropology of ancient and modern India this book will prove insightful, or for those looking to escape into an exciting travelogue. Blavatsky and her traveling companions are both intellectual and charming. I've had this book for a number of years and I continuously comeback to it for its wonderful wealth of thought and adventure.

Read this more for its artistic value than its historical accuracy...it is a delight for any true follower of HPB's life and times and invaluable look at India from a traveler's point of view.

The book moved me and made me think about the hardships that the Indian peoples went through, especially the Nez Perce. It had lots of neat little points, and a different perspective of Chief Joseph. This was probably the best story that I've read.

This one of the most powerful books about Chief Joseph that i have had the pleasure to read. The stirring narrative from a native Nez Perez,really puts me in the story and makes me very,very angry about the way we have treated Native Americans,Will Henry was one of the most gifted and talented western writers of all time. I wish his books would make a comeback on the bestseller lists.

excellent collection of indian poetry. found it accidently while browsing in a huge 6 story library. quite a lucky find.

"Please, make me the gardener of your flower garden", a lover asks his beloved. He calls himself a servant and his beloved the queen. He dreams to serve her idle days. He wants to keep fresh the grassy path where she walks in the morning; he wants her feet to be greeted with praise at every step by the flowers.

And what he wants for his reward? He asks to be allowed to hold her little fists like tender lotus-buds and slip flower chains over her wrists; to tinge the soles of her feet with the red juice of flower petals and kiss away the speck of dust that may chance to linger there.

This is the way Rabindranath Tagore, the greatest Indian poet of all times, introduce us to this enchanted collection of poems, poems that touch the most profound strings of our hearts. His poems tell us about love and life - and they are rich with the description of nature and beauty. Anybody that loves or has loved cannot remain indifferent to his poems. Some readers "have smiles, sweet and simple, and some a sly twinkle in their eyes. Some have tears that well up in the daylight, and others tears that are hidden in the gloom." But we all have need for him, the poet, who is "ever as young or as old as the youngest and the oldest of the village".

His poems tell us of impossible love - like the love of the free bird and the cage bird: "Their love is intense with longing, but they never can fly wing to wing. Through the bars of the cage they look, and vain is their wish to know each other. They flutter their wings in yearning, and sing, 'Come closer, my love!' The free bird cries, 'It cannot be, I fear the closed doors of the cage.' The cage bird whispers, 'Alas, my wings are powerless and dead.' "

His poems tell us of secret love: "The young traveler came along the road in the rosy mist of the morning. He stopped before my door and asked me with an eager cry, 'Where is she?' For very shame I could not say, 'She is I, young traveler, she is I.' "

His poems tell us of lovers' emotion: "When my love comes and sits by my side, when my body trembles and my eyelids droop, the night darkens, the wind blows out the lamp, and the clouds draw veils over the stars. It is the jewel at my own breast that shines and gives light. I do not know how to hide it."

His poems tell us of the need for love confidence: "Do not keep to yourself the secret of your heart, my friend! Say it to me, only to me, in secret. You who smile so gently, softly whisper, my heart will hear it, not my ears."

His poems tell us of a love story: "Hands cling to hands and eyes linger on eyes: thus begins the record of our hearts. It is the moonlit night of March; the sweet smell of henna is in the air; my flute lies on the earth neglected and your garland of flowers is unfinished. This love between you and me is simple as a song."

His poems tell us of lovers departing: "An unbelieving smile flits on your eyes when I come to you to take my leave. I have done it so often that you think I will soon return. To tell you the truth I have the same doubt in my mind. For the spring days come again time after time; the full moon takes leave and comes on another visit, the flowers come again and blush upon their branches year after year, and it is likely that I take my leave only to come to you again. But keep the illusion awhile; do not send it away with ungentle haste. When I say I leave you for all time, accept it as true, and let a mist of tears for one moment deepen the dark rim of your eyes. Then smile as archly as you like when I come again."

Reading those poems I felt like visiting a flower garden full of scents and beauty in a magic ancient kingdom.

This book lets you in on the dealings of Tecumseh with more details. The records of the decisions of the military commanding officers are astounding. As I was reading the events I wanted to kick somebody for getting so many people killed.

This book isn't as strong as some of Eckert's others, but as a part of his series, (and for a book that was previously out of print) I'd strongly recommend it.

I had read Frontiersmen, Tecumseh and Dark and Bloody River, and preferred them easily to this book, but still enjoyed it, and have re-read it many times.

"... a needle-like ray of blue light shot across the lawn from beyond the hedge and-- but for that nervous start-- must have struck fully upon the back of Stuart's skull. Instead, it shone past his head, which it missed only by inches, and he experienced a sensation as though some one had buffeted him upon the cheek furiously. He pitched out of his chair and on to the carpet. The first object which the ray touched was the telephone; and next, beyond it, a medical dictionary; beyond that again, the grate, in which a fire was laid... An intense crackling sound deafened him, and the air of the room seemed to have become hot as that of an oven. There came a series of dull reports-- an uncanny wailing... and the needle-ray vanished. A monstrous shadow, moon-cast,, which had lain across the carpet of the lawn-- the shadow of a cowled man-- vanished also. ...There was smoke in the room, a smell of burning and of fused metal. He glared at the table madly. The mouthpiece of the telephone had vanished!" A pretty impressive weapon and near assassination! Especially since the scene was first published in 1920 in Sax Rohmer's thriller, The Golden Scorpion. Sadly, book store shelves today (even the shelves of rare and used book stores) are nearly devoid of works by Sax Rohmer (given name: Arthur S. Ward). The few titles by Rohmer which come and go in and out of print are those having to do with his most famous character-- the insidious Doctor Fu Manchu (portrayed variously in films by Boris Karloff in the 1930's and Christopher Lee in the 1960's) and his nemesis, the London detective, Nayland Smith, bearing a striking resemblance to Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock Holmes. Much is the pity that more of Rohmer's work isn't readily available to readers today. For the literary worlds of Sax Rohmer are filled with intrigue, fast-paced action and suspense, and, alas, a good deal of what would be termed political incorrectness today. For many of Rohmer's greatest villains, like Dr. Fu Manchu, are Chinese masterminds, ready to claim possession of the world during a time when Europeans and Americans, alike, worried about the rising influence of China and the "Yellow Peril." In The Golden Scorpion Europe's top scientists are suddenly falling dead of no apparent cause and French detective Gaston Max, master of disguise, languages, and intellect (surely a close cousin to Mr. Holmes as well as Poe's A. Dupin) believes the deaths are actually murder-- murder which he traces to "The Scorpion" a Chinese genius whose identity has always remained concealed behind a cloud of fear. Dr. Keppel Stuart becomes a target of "The Scorpion" due to his knowledge of exotic poisons and falls under the charm of the beautiful Asian woman variously known as Mlle. Dorian, Zara el-Khala, and Miska, whose "smile was the taunting smile of the East, which is at once a caress and an invitation." But as Gaston Max closes in, we learn that Miska's is a dreadful life-- for she is an unwilling agent of "The Scorpion" who, Miska confesses, "is the most dangerous being in the known world. He has invented horrible things-- poisons and instruments, which I cannot describe because I have never seen them; but I have seen... some of their effects." Nor has she seen "The Feast of a Thousand Ants," another one of The Scorpion's playful devices which "is performed with the aid of African driver ants, a pair of surgical scissors and a pot honey" which can strip the flesh off of a living man in sixty-nine minutes! And who is "The Scorpion ? "The new-comer wore a cowled garment of some dark blue material which enveloped him from head to feet. It possessed oval eye-holes, and through these apertures gleamed two eyes which looked scarcely like the eyes of a human being. They were of that brilliant yellow colour sometimes seen in the eyes of tigers, and their most marked and awful peculiarity was their unblinking regard. They seemed always to be open to their fullest extent, and Stuart realized with anger that it was impossible to sustain for long the piercing unmoved gaze... for he knew he was in the presence of `The Scorpion' The Golden Scorpion stands among Rohmer's finest suspense tales outside of the Fu Manchu series. The story drives frantically to the awesome climax and will transport readers back in time to a simpler era where the greatest threat to the world is a mad Chinese mastermind whose weapons are death rays and poisons, whose eyes have the power to mesmerize (like Chandu the Magician-- a famous pulp-fiction character and later a movie serial which Rohmer gives a tip of the hat to in The Golden Scorpion), and who, like many a mortal, is flawed when it comes to beauty and love. Those were the days.

I have always enjoyed Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu books - I have them all - but I had never read his other books before. The old-fashioned style in The Golden Scorpion can be a bit offputting until you get used to it, and the racial stereotyping is certainly jarring to modern sensibilities (and would probably be offensive for some). But if you view it as a product of the time and accept that such views were typical then, it is a very exciting story. No one writes like this anymore -- exciting, with clear-cut good and evil, fast-paced, with characters who are larger than life. Good stuff!

The quarrel of the philosophers with the myths is not that they are not true, but that they are not edifying. The opposition between science and religion was developed early in ancient Greece. Plato, the deepest thinker, was also the farthest from popular faith. The Greek religion involved a belief in a number of deities who were personifications of the powers of nature and were founders and sustainers of civil society. The harmony which was the essence of Greek civilization was a temporary compromise.

In the Greek conception the citizen was an aristocrat. In the majority of the Greek states slaves were a greater part of the population. The states Crete and Sparta were practically military garrisons. The majority of the Greek states were in a constant state of flux. The Peloponnesian War represented a contest between democratic and oligarchic states. Plato based his REPUBLIC chiefly on Sparta. The constitution of Athens was political equality imposed on social inequality. The Greek states were not well-organized.

The fusian of the idea of the beautiful and the good is the control point in the Greek theory of art. Primarily, Greek sculpture was an expression of the national religion. Music was the center of Greek education. Music is a union of melody and rhythm and poetry. Poetry was viewed as a storehouse of practical wisdom. To represent suffering as the punishment of sin is the constant bent of Aeschylus. To justify the law of God against the presumption of man is the central idea of Sophocles. In Greek tragedy the general point of view predominates. The Greeks sought to create and maintain essential harmony.

Textbooks on the history of philosophy tend to be remotely dry. They just summarize the text in arid words, and then skip to the next philosopher in the chronicle order. Writers of those textbook seem to think that we should rever the philopophers, do not understand them. Reading through them only gives us the superficial impression and worse, the knowledge we¡¯ve got is likely to be evaporated to the oblivion. We can¡¯t imagine that those philosophers lived their own life and breathed the air just like us. But the texts they left to us have what to say. And it¡¯s closely related to its own time. To understand those texts, we need to know their worlds, for the text says about the world it¡¯s written. Greek philosophy and literature also should be apprehended with such background knowledge. For example, there were no professional philosophers isolated from the rest of the society in Archaic Greek world, like professors of philosophy we could see in our Universities. Greek philosophers told about their worldly affairs. So Aristotle was mastered that much various fields from political sciences, ethics, aesthetics, cosmology to botany. In other word, we should know their life to figure out what they say at all. Greek philosophy was not isolated from the society unlike contemporary philosophy. This book should be definitely helpful to know their time. As the title of the book implies, this deals with how the Greek saw their world. Each chapter describes the way they see elements of their world from the religion, the state, the individual, to the art. With closing the last page of the book, I bet you could illustrate what was the life of the Greek in your mind.

Amazing Colorado setting, characters one gets into, the action is non stop

Good adventure book with a strong female character Great Colorado setting

And so goes the story of Abelard and Heloise:

Living within the precincts of Notre-Dame, under the care of her uncle, the canon Fulbert, was a girl named Heloise, of noble birth, and born about 1101. She is said to have been beautiful, but still more remarkable for her knowledge, which extended beyond Latin, it is said, to Greek and Hebrew. Abélard fell in love with her; and he sought and gained a place in Fulbert's house. Becoming tutor to the girl, he used his power for the purpose of seduction, and she returned his devotion. Their relations interfered with his public work, and were not kept a secret by Abélard himself. Soon everyone knew except the trusting Fulbert. When he found out, they were separated, only to meet in secret. Heloise became pregnant, and was carried off by her lover to Brittany, where she gave birth to a son. To appease her furious uncle, Abélard proposed a secret marriage, in order not to mar his prospects of advancement in the church; but Heloise opposed the idea. She appealed to him not to sacrifice for her the independence of his life, but reluctantly gave in to pressure. The secret of the marriage was not kept by Fulbert; and when Heloise boldly denied it, life was made so difficult for her that she sought refuge in the convent of Argenteuil at Abélard's bidding. Immediately Fulbert, believing that her husband, who had helped her run away, wanted to be rid of her, plotted revenge. He and some others broke into Abélard's chamber by night, and castrated him. The priesthood and ecclesiastical office were canonically closed to him. Heloise, not yet twenty, consummated her work of self-sacrifice at Abélard's jealous bidding that she never again share romantic love with a man, and became a nun.

Sometimes men just get what they deserve! A fascinating autobiography that at turns is arrogant and at other bitter. A great read for any student of medieval history!

Peter Abelard (1079-c.1142) was a renowned French philosopher and theologian, though he is usually remembered today for his affair with the beautiful Heloise, which ended with his being castrated by the girl's uncle. This short book (48 pages) contains Peter Abelard's autobiography, entitled Historia Calamitatum or The Story of My Misfortunes, which was written shortly before his death. In it, Dr. Abelard, shows how his life unfolded; from his promising youth, through to his seduction of Heloise, and on to his problems as an abbot of the monastery at Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuis.

I must say, that I found this to be a fascinating read. Dr. Abelard thought very highly of himself, making such remarks as, "Thus I who by this time had come to regard myself as the only philosopher remaining in the whole world..." Concomitantly, he thought very little of the people around him. In his recollections, his brilliance shown like a thousand suns, and his teachers and fellows all came to hate him because of their jealousy. Everywhere he went people came to hate him, through no fault of his own, but only through their jealousy and evil. I imagine that he was a difficult man to love; my hat is off to Heloise.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating, and very insightful read. I now feel that I understand what Peter Abelard was truly like. If you wish to read Dr. Abelard's defense of himself, and look through a window into his soul, then I highly recommend that you get this book.